Skip to main content

Bottled Beverages

Bottle (noun) - a rigid container where the neck is smaller in the mouth than the body
Beverage (noun) - any liquid suitable for drinking

So combine the two and you get an idea where my head is going; or not.

They come in all colors, textures, flavors and yes variety of containers - not just the usual paper or plastic; or steel or glass; but also in terms of the shapes of the aforementioned containers.

Most recently I happened on a pistola or hand gun shaped glass container containing a fermented brew made from cactus paddles (as in Tequila from Jalisco province of the great country of MEXICO). Of all places it was being sold in substantial volume at a mind blowing price in the Warehouse Worship Facility called COSTCO.

All 1.75 litres of it shaped in the form of an unwieldy handgun with a free Sombrero to go with it (it always sells better when there is a value pack according to the American Marketing Specialists).

Now moving onto the less inebriating kind there are those that sometimes make your head spin. I mean there are only 180 types of colas (caramel colored carbonated drinks) that can take the form of water with or without caffeine; with or without sugar; without anything but branded 18 different ways nonetheless (the emperor has no clothes?).

They are all commanding premium because they are branded as in some cases - SMART WATER. Some bottles actually say that and the consuming public IMHO has looked anything but (At over $5 a liter when you factor in the bottle deposit and taxes). Perhaps more if you want to look smart while vacationing on a remote island.

Then there is the case (pun intended) of consuming all manners of juices (with disclaimers to fill a good sized library) which if you were to actually try to read would make you wonder if you are about to consume a science experiment gone bad or actual fruit.

Then that makes good media fodder is an absolute logical consequence, with bipartisan hearings on the merits of having certain containers being served in public school (for those not familiar with that term - its schools funded through tax payer dollars) lunches.

Certainly all that branding and advertising leads to many jobs and many consultants on planes and therefore an overall robust economy.

So its not water under the bridge - its very much in a bottle - waiting to be drunk!

Comments

  1. RajendraJune 17, 2011 at 11:07 PM

    In India we of course have the ingenious locally branded water brands, which I suspect to be filled with tap water in many cases- which sell in billions, now that it is unfashionable to drink tap water at airports or railway stations.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Diamond HeadJune 18, 2011 at 8:53 PM

    From the days of Nilu Phule the bottle has been central to the Marathi culture too as epitomized in his phrase
    "Mansala don goshti havya - Bai ani Batli"

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Presumptive Society

Today's world is hyper connected.  I am not so sure what it means but you hear it a lot.  It is probably hyper but not sure how connected it is.  Sugar (fermented or not) is available in many ways than before and so getting hyper is easy.  It is probably more a threat than cocaine since it is sold legally. And what is this connected stuff?  Most people I encounter seem disconnected from reality.  So going back to this assumption that we are connected there are subtle and no so subtle instances of how brands and companies and middle men try to portray someone - A linkedin profile for somebody working for X years at a place advertises to the connected network that so and so is CELEBRATING X years @ Such and Such Inc. Do we know if (s)he is celebrating or cringing?  Perhaps a better way to portray will be - So and So LASTED X years @ such & such inc. Then it exhorts the readership to go ahead and congratulate them for this lasting effe...
2 comments
Read more

Of Jims and Johns

Here is another essay on the subject of first names. As in birth names. Or names provided to an offspring at birth. While the developed world tends to shy away from the exotic like Refrigerator or Coca Cola for their new production there is a plethora of Jims and Johns and Bobs or Robs. Speaking of which I do not think there is a categoric decision point at the time of birth if a child will be hereafter called as Bob. I mean have not yet met a toddler called Bob or Rob for that matter. At some point though the parental instinct to mouth out multiple syllables runs out and they switch from calling the crawler Robert to simply Robbie to Rob. Now speaking of - it is strange that the name sounds like something you would not want Rob to do - i.e. Rob anyone. Then why call someone that? After all Rob Peter to Pay Paul is not exactly a maxim to live a young life? Is it? Perhaps Peter or Paul might want to have a say in it? Then there is this matter of going to the John. Why degrad...
2 comments
Read more

On the go(zay masta) in Japan again

Cool cat the Japanese are Tokyo at dusk  My second visit to this land of the rising sun after almost a decade. Back then clearly I was wet behind the ears product manager and likely didn’t pay attention to all (efficient) things Japanese. But today I did and of course continue to be impressed. It is as much the obvious stuff like on time travel that is both clean and comfortable and all that which makes it possible. The impressive landmark and landscapes that these humans have put together despite their cramped (or because of it) surroundings and precarious geological conditions could amaze a novice architect among us. But it’s also the little things that someone had to think about which have a phenomenal impact on day to day lives that make the Japanese stand apart. Below are few random examples- 1. Providing a very fine machined wooden toothpick in every packet of wooden chopsticks. The said chapsticks are simply set on the To Go counter of any food vendor/ convenience store wher...
Post a Comment
Read more